a vacation to Ouray, Colorado (post #3)

Ouray, Colorado
(you-ray)

Every day while in Ouray, me, my chocoholic self, and my husband trekked through the door of Mouse’s Chocolates & Coffee – one of my favorite shops in town. They have a large selection of decadent chocolates, delicious coffee, and tasty shakes to choose from. Mouse’s Chocolates has been selling to chocoholics in Ouray (and via outside orders) for many years, and recently expanded their building. You can watch them creating their signature chocolates in one window, while in the next purchase the goodness, and sit to enjoy them.

Buckskin Booksellers

I couldn’t leave town without checking out the local Ouray bookstore, Buckskin Booksellers. Tall shelves make of mahogany packed with books make the little store so inviting. Choosing from historical books on famous Coloradans, the newest best sellers, and books by the author Sandra Dallas  proved difficult. Sandra Dallas won out since I’d been wanting one of her recent novels, and I wasn’t sure if she was selling them in ebook format.

This trip was for pure relaxation purposes. Neither one of us was up for adventure (our day to day life contains enough). On other trips we have taken off on four-wheel drive trails and hiking trails. The four-wheel drive trail I prefer is Yankee Boy Basin. It’s fairly easy, and there’s a small chance of death. Those are both positives in my tourist book. Although, passing vehicles along steep, harrowing cliffs does rack my nerves. It’s still nothing like the famous Black Bear trail – you will never find me on that one.

At the beginning of July a gorgeous landscape of mountain wild flowers can be seen on the Yankee Boy Basin trail. The valley also offers the most spectacular views of the mountains. This is a spot where I dream of building a little cabin. The following pictures were taken during a trip we took to the Ouray area in 2009.

mountain wildflowers in Yankee Boy Basin

Yankee Boy Basin

Yankee Boy Basin

Well, that concludes our trip to Ouray, Colorado. It seems it’s a well kept a secret among those living in our state. Some know about it, but don’t visit, and others love to travel there. Yet, we continually run into visitors from other countries. Diverse languages abound in Ouray, and for me, the non-world traveler, that makes it all the more intriguing.